Photopatterning of self-assembled alkanethiolate monolayers on gold. A simple monolayer photoresist utilizing aqueous chemistry

Journal Article · Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1994 · Langmuir; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/la00015a005· OSTI ID:7069298

Huang, J; Hemminger, J C ^[1]; Dahlgren, D A ^[2]

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1. Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
2. Photometrics, Huntington Beach, CA (United States)

In this paper we demonstrate that self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiols on gold can be used as effective photoresists. UV photolysis of an alkanethiol SAM generates the corresponding sulfonate in the monolayer film. The sulfonate is easily rinsed off of the surface with water, exposing a clean gold substrate, which can then be modified with subsequent chemistry. We describe here experiments in which an alkanethiol SAM on a gold film on silicon is irradiated through a mask, followed by immersion of the sample in an aqueous acid etching solution (HCI:HNO[sub 3]:H[sub 2]O = 3:1:4). The gold is etched away from the areas which have been exposed to UV radiation leaving a pattern which reproduces the original mask. The spatial resolution in the present experiments is limited by the mask which is a 6-[mu]m wire grid. Scanning electron microscopy images of patterned samples show sharp edges to the features suggesting that spatial patterning on the 1-[mu]m scale should be attainable with this simple chemistry. 11 refs., 4 figs.

• OSTI ID: 7069298
• Journal Information: Langmuir; (United States), Vol. 10:3; ISSN 0743-7463
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
GOLD
ETCHING
THIOLS
MASKING
PHOTOLYSIS
FILMS
HYDROCHLORIC ACID
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
MICROSCOPY
NITRIC ACID
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
SILICON
SULFONATES
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
DECOMPOSITION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ELEMENTS
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
METALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
RADIATIONS
SEMIMETALS
SPECTROSCOPY
SURFACE FINISHING
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
400500* - Photochemistry
360101 - Metals & Alloys- Preparation & Fabrication
400102 - Chemical & Spectral Procedures